Gambling Industry Suffers

12/20/2008		Gambling Industry Suffers
Home History Games News Dictionary		Despite the election of Senator Obama as President Elect, the economic problems in the United States continue unabated, as demonstrated in a report by the Associated Press this week. The US unemployment rates have hit an all time high over the last 15 years; and unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a horizon in sight. Among those industries most affected lie the travel and entertainment businesses. The lay-off rates for hotel and casinos across the nation have jumped significantly, with travel having to eliminate 36,000 people from their payrolls in the month of November alone. Recreation is a close second-place loser in the recession; amusements and gambling companies have had to let 13,100 people go. These numbers contributed to the overall total of 533,000 jobs lost in November, and added to the overall rate of employment increasing to 6.7% nationally. Unfortunately, there is little the travel companies and gambling casinos can do about it. Basic economic principals see luxury and leisure spending being eliminated first when recessions come into play. For example, the first part of November required Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, Atlantic City to let go of 400 employees. Manistee, Michigan’s Little River Casino Resort laid 100 people off. In West Virginia, the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and resort cut back on as few as they could, the 93 unfortunates being mostly carpenters and maintenance workers, whose duties were then reassigned to continuing staff. We can only hope that the trend does have an end, as land based casinos and resorts can be sole providers of income to some communities. President and Chief Executive Frank J Fahrenkopf of the American Gaming Association made the following observation: “These complexes employ thousands and thousands of workers. And those thousands of workers buy cars, buy washing machines. So it’s a major negative impact on the communities where we do business when we have to cut back.”

12/20/2008

Gambling Industry Suffers

Despite the election of Senator Obama as President Elect, the economic problems in the United States continue unabated, as demonstrated in a report by the Associated Press this week. The US unemployment rates have hit an all time high over the last 15 years; and unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a horizon in sight.

Among those industries most affected lie the travel and entertainment businesses. The lay-off rates for hotel and casinos across the nation have jumped significantly, with travel having to eliminate 36,000 people from their payrolls in the month of November alone. Recreation is a close second-place loser in the recession; amusements and gambling companies have had to let 13,100 people go. These numbers contributed to the overall total of 533,000 jobs lost in November, and added to the overall rate of employment increasing to 6.7% nationally.

Unfortunately, there is little the travel companies and gambling casinos can do about it. Basic economic principals see luxury and leisure spending being eliminated first when recessions come into play. For example, the first part of November required Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, Atlantic City to let go of 400 employees. Manistee, Michigan’s Little River Casino Resort laid 100 people off. In West Virginia, the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and resort cut back on as few as they could, the 93 unfortunates being mostly carpenters and maintenance workers, whose duties were then reassigned to continuing staff.

We can only hope that the trend does have an end, as land based casinos and resorts can be sole providers of income to some communities. President and Chief Executive Frank J Fahrenkopf of the American Gaming Association made the following observation: “These complexes employ thousands and thousands of workers. And those thousands of workers buy cars, buy washing machines. So it’s a major negative impact on the communities where we do business when we have to cut back.”